


(Baby) We're Worth It

by cherrylove



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-04-20 16:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4794719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrylove/pseuds/cherrylove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was quite sweet to see a familiar, friendly face; especially one she hadn’t seen in several years.  Someone who was always nice to her, even though she could be a downright brat when she wanted to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting A Familiar Face All Over Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MerMarie](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=MerMarie).



When Sansa graduated from culinary school, she decided to move back home and open a vegan/vegetarian restaurant with one of her high school best friends, Arianne Martell. She was, as her friends liked to call her, a crunchy, clean eating, yoga fitness junkie. It only made sense that she would open up a clean, all natural organic restaurant with her foodie, business savvy best friend. 

When Sansa wasn’t in the kitchen prepping, running dinner service, and revamping the menu, she was probably at the gym. She lived by the wise words of Elle Woods, _exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people don’t shoot their husbands._ She didn’t have a boyfriend to shoot, let alone a husband, but she spent awhile being really unhappy so she decided to take those words to heart and got really into her already established workout routine. 

She added two more days a week at the gym, and started doing yoga in the morning after getting up and night before bed. If she can, she squeezes in an afternoon session with Lady, her dog who tries for the first couple poses to participate, but usually just winds up watching with that adorable confused doggie look on her face. 

After Sansa and Arianne got things settled at the restaurant and she finished unpacking her new apartment, she found a gym midway between home and work. She signed up for a membership and starts going after dinner service 5 nights a week and whenever else she can find time.

The gym is what reunites her with Jon Snow. Growing up, Jon Snow was her brother’s best friend, who was lanky and a total awkward nerd. Today, Jon is muscled and altogether too handsome. 

The first time Sansa sees him, she’s doing her cardio running on the treadmill. He’s across the gym bench-pressing with a guy who looks like he weighs 120 pounds soaking wet spotting him. She stumbled a little as he moved through a rep and the muscles of his arms flexed. She recovered and began to slow down her run. She slowed to a walk and continued to watch Jon as discretely as she could. She just couldn’t get over how good he looked. The last time she saw Jon, he was still fairly lanky and was enlisting in the military. He was dating a girl around his age named Ygritte the last she heard from Arya, and that was almost a year and a half ago. 

She got off the treadmill and headed over to the weights to get some strength training in. She was in the middle of reps for her left arm when a shadowed appeared in front of her. 

“Sansa?” asked a hesitant voice. 

She looked up from the weight she was lifting and her blue eyes met familiar grey ones, “Jon? Hi. How are you?”

“Good. I, uh, I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, but what are you doing here?” 

Sansa laughed, “I just moved back a couple months ago. I graduated culinary school and came back to open up The Sun and Dove with Arianne.” 

“That’s your place? The one on Main Street that is always buzzing?” he asked. 

She felt her cheeks flush and hoped it wouldn’t be too obvious, “Yeah, that’s it. You know, for it being a vegan and vegetarian eatery, we do really well which surprised both Arianne and I.” 

“I’ve heard you do things a little differently than most vegetarian and vegan restaurants. I’m sure that helps,” he told her. 

“We do try to be creative and make things as flavorful as possible…” she told him, “What are you doing now?”

“Well I decided not to re-up with the military and now I’m an EMT,” Jon told her.

“Really? Well that sounds like it could never be dull,” she smiled, “Well I should probably finish up my work out so I can get back to Lady.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” Jon said, giving her a smile, “Maybe we could take Ghost and Lady running one day, that is if you like running…”

She nodded, “Yeah, that sounds lovely Jon. I could always use someone to talk to on cool downs beside Lady. Swing by the restaurant tonight if you can, I’ll give you my cell number and a meal.” 

“I’m not a huge fan of vegetarian food,” he admitted. 

“I might be able to bring you over to the dark side. Just swing by,” she told him before picking her weights back up.

“Okay San. I’ll swing by,” he said. 

He turned and she watched him walk away for several moments before turning back to her work out. It was quite sweet to see a familiar, friendly face; especially one she hadn’t seen in several years. Someone who was always nice to her, even though she could be a downright brat when she wanted to be. 

When Sansa finished up her work out and went home to shower before leaving for the restaurant. She tied her hair up into a bun in the office and pulled on her ice blue chef’s jacket that Robb and Jeyne bought her for graduation. 

She left the office and moved into the kitchen so she could start helping with the bulk of the prep for that night’s dinner rush. She plucked a knife from her set and bumped hips with her sous chef, Mya, before getting started on chopping some peaches for an arugula, peach, and balsamic salad. They chatted with music playing faintly in the background and then prepped dishes before service started along with their 30-second dance party. 

Half way through service Sansa was tossing some vegan mushroom, spinach and sundried tomato ravioli into a sauté pan with tomato sauce in it when Arianne popped her head into the kitchen. 

“San, you have a visitor. Quite handsome, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that says Winter Town EMT on it. He says you invited him for a meal,” Arianne told her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. 

“Oh! That’s Jon! Do you mind setting him up at a table while I handle some things back here?” Sansa asked. 

“Yeah, of course,” Arianne smiled before going back out front.

Sansa helped Mya with a few dishes before whipping up a quick vegetarian pasta dish for Jon with a cream sauce and fresh, seasonal veggies. She added a few of the stuffed mushrooms on a plate for him as well. She placed a breadstick on the bowl and left the kitchen with it. 

She found Jon sitting at a table, Arianne leaning her hip against the other chair. 

“I can take it from here Ari. Thanks for keeping lonely boy here company,” she said, setting the food in front of him before moving to the seat across from him. 

Arianne nodded, “It was nice meeting you Jon. If anyone can get you to love vegetarian or vegan cuisine, it’s Sansa.” She waved goodbye and headed back to the hostess stand. 

Sansa smiled at her best friend and then turned to Jon, “So you came.”

“That I did. I thought I’d see if all this buzz was really true,” he said, giving her a smile. 

“Well hopefully we don’t let all the buzz fall too far from the truth,” she told her, leaning back in the chair.

“You’re not going to eat?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. 

“No. I eat after dinner service with the rest of the kitchen staff. It’s a tradition I picked up from the Head Chef at school.”

He nodded and picked up a fork before taking a bite of pasta. He chewed for a few moments and took another bite. She smiled and they spent some time catching up while he finished the entirety of the dinner she cooked for him. 

He put down his fork on the now empty plate and sat back in the chair, “That was delicious San. Not like any vegetarian dish I’ve ever eaten.” 

She beamed, “Well then I’ve done my job properly.” 

Sansa stood up from the table, “I should get back to the kitchen. Don’t worry about the meal, it’ll go on my tab.” 

Jon nodded and stood, “You’ll have to let me buy you coffee or dinner some day then.” 

She gave him a smile and shook her head, “No way Jon Snow. I’m an expensive date. Veganism is not cheap.” 

“Well I’ll start saving now.” 

A crash came from behind them and Sansa whirled around to look in the direction it came from. There was no one near the server stations cleaning up so it must have come from inside the kitchen. Mya’s head popped out from the kitchen doors, “Chef! Alys’ knife slipped and is bleeding pretty bad…” 

She sighed and turned, “I have to go deal with this. Try and do something with our first aid kit…” 

She started to walk and paused before turning around quickly, “Could I ask a favor?” 

A smirk spread across his face, “Just let me grab my backpack from the truck. I’ll be right back.” 

She nodded and stayed where she was to wait for him. When he came back in she led him to the kitchen. Mya pointed them to the office where Alys sat in the chair with a towel wrapped around her hand tightly. Sansa stood by while Jon cleaned the wound and got it stitched up. She admired the way his muscles flexed and the easy way he interacted with Alys, who was probably the youngest, shyest girl in her kitchen. 

She got Alys off home with Jojen, one of her brother’s friends who was a server, and walked Jon out as the others cleaned up the kitchen and prepared for their group dinner. 

“Thank you Jon. Alys is still a baby, but she’s a fantastic line cook. I really appreciate you stitching her up and being so nice to her,” Sansa told him. 

“It was no trouble San. Just make sure you call me about coffee or something and we’ll call it even,” he said, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. 

Sansa nodded, “Alright. I’ll do that. Thank you again Jon.”

He smiled, moved a step closer and pulled her into a hug, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head, “Of course. I’ll see you around soon.”

“I suppose you will…” she murmured. 

He pulled away and walked out to his truck with a wave. She watched him pull away before going to join the others in the kitchen. 

Sansa could feel the press of his lips to the top of her head for hours after. All the way through dinner with her staff and through her shower and still when Lady crawled into bed with her to cuddle.


	2. Finding Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’d always been there somewhere in her heart, even when he was just her older brother’s best friend and she was simply Robb’s younger sister.

Sansa was in mid transition from cobra pose into a downward dog when Lady jumped down from the couch and rushed to the door. She whimpered and scratched at the hardwood flooring in front of it. 

“Relax girl, I’m coming…I’m coming.” 

She padded slowly over to the door and peered out the peephole. She smiled and opened the door, “Hey Jon. Come on in. Sorry. I got a late start so I was just finishing up my yoga. Do you mind waiting while I finish? It’s just a couple more poses.” 

Jon shook his head, “Not at all.” 

Jon knew she was a total fitness junkie. She was constantly finding some new kind of class to go to and some new 10-day challenge to vary her workouts. He was pretty sure that the only things Sansa kept consistent in her workouts was running and more yoga than he’d ever seen anyone do in one day. 

“Feel free to help yourself to some tofu and bell pepper scramble and I bought some new sweet potato and spinach treats for Lady, feel free to give one to Ghost,” she said, returning to her mat. She moved into Warrior One and held it for a few moments before transitioning into Warrior Two. She held and moved into a sun salutation and back into Warrior One. She moved through those and into some cool down poses before going to pull on her socks and running shoes. 

She grabbed Lady’s leash and moved to where Ghost, Lady and Jon were on the couch. Once Lady spotted the leash, she sat up and her tail began to wag. Sansa attached Lady’s leash to her collar, “Ready?” 

Jon nodded and stood, hooking Ghost to his leash. They left her apartment and she locked it behind them. They headed out of her building and across the street to the park they ran at when they didn’t want to drive out to the hiking trails. 

They started their run out at an easy pace for the first two laps around the lake before picking up to a more vigorous running pace. They made 6 more laps around the lake and slowed to a jog as they made their way back to Sansa’s place. When they got to her building, they did some cool down stretches and headed up to her apartment. 

When she opened the door, Ghost and Lady rushed towards the kitchen where the water bowl was. She toed off her tennis shoes and moved to her yoga mat to go through some poses to keep her muscles loose so she wouldn’t be sore later. 

“Help yourself to whatever’s in the kitchen,” she told him as she folded herself into Child’s Pose to center herself. 

Jon moved into the kitchen and dug around to fix some salads for them. He pulled out a cutting board and began to work. She’d do yoga for about 20 minutes and he would have a salad or something else they could both agree on. 

In the months he and Sansa have been working out together, he’s eaten many a vegan meal, but she would never be able to fully convert him. He was still a total meat lover and no vegan version Sansa introduced him to could ever change that. He finished the salads, poured water and took everything into the living room. They usually ate lunch at the coffee table binge-watching episode of Beat Bobby Flay and Nightwatch. 

He sat down on the couch and watched as Sansa ran through what he recognized as her last couple of poses. 

I should really thank whoever invented yoga pants… He thought to himself.

He watched as she rolled up her mat and stored it with her blocks. She walked over to the couch and folded her legs underneath her, “How was your shift last night?”

“It was pretty good. Not super eventful. We responded to a car accident, we transported someone to the ER who was having an asthma attack, and then responded to a toddler having an allergic reaction,” Jon told her, “How did dinner service go?”

Sansa sighed softly and shook her head, “It was a hot mess. We had a server call out, one of my line cooks had to take her sister to the hospital because she went into labor, and then someone else got sick in the middle so service so I was short another line cook. We got through it, but it was not as smooth as our other services.”

She picked up the salad from the table and began to eat. Jon reached for the remote and turned on Kid’s Baking Championship on Netflix. They’d finished all of the episodes available for Beat Bobby Flay, so they’d started on this show last week. Jon picked up his own salad as the dogs padded into the living room to lay at the foot of the couch. 

They were mostly quiet while they ate and watched the show, only speaking to comment on the show occasionally. When the episode was over and they were done eating, Sansa took the bowls to the kitchen and cleaned up.

Jon got up from the couch and joined her. He leaned against the counter across from where she was cleaning up, “Sansa, can I ask you something?”

She glanced over her shoulder, “Of course you can.” 

“What are we doing here?” he asked. 

She turned around, leaning against the counter and her brow furrowed, “What do you mean Jon?” 

“I mean, what are we doing? We’ve been tiptoeing around each other for months. We’ve been doing this exercise, lunch, and TV thing for months. I come to the restaurant after shifts to walk home with you. You crash in my bed after a dinner service when I’m not on shift. You took Ghost to his last vet appointment because I got called in last minute for a shift. My roommates watched Lady and Ghost when I went to Myrcella and Quentyn’s wedding with you.”

Sansa sighed softly and bit her lip, “I thought we were…I don’t know being friends…”

He was quiet for several moments and nodded, “We are friends, but Sansa, I have feelings for you. I like you. I want to be _more_ than just your friend.” 

She swallowed hard and looked down at her bare feet. It was her turn to be quiet. She took in a shaky breath and took another long pause before speaking, “Jon, I…I like you. I do…I just, we’re in a good space and I don’t want to mess that up and what if this doesn’t work out and things get weird? I know that your relationship with the rest of my family is just as important to you. I know that Bran and Rickon look up to you just as much as they do Robb. Arya would hate me even more than she already does if something happened and you stopped coming around…” 

He moved in closer, his hands on the counter on either side of her, “Is that the only reason you have?”

She averted her eyes from his, “It’s the only one that really matters.” 

He took her chin gently in his hand and turned it so her eyes met his, “It’s not one you have to worry about. It would never happen.” 

His forehead rested on hers and his lips moved to capture hers. She was still against his lips for several minutes before returning his kiss. His hands moved to rest on her waist and her arms moved to drape over his shoulders. Finally giving into this desire was like coming home. Like finding the place you belonged. He’d always been there somewhere in her heart, even when he was just her older brother’s best friend and she was simply Robb’s younger sister. 

They parted and he smiled at her. She returned his smile with a slightly more hesitant one of her own. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, stroking a thumb over her cheek.

“You can’t know that it wouldn’t ever happen,” she whispered. 

Jon kissed her forehead gently, “You’re right, but I know that I would never let you go without a fight. I like you too much to not fight for you if it came down to it.”

A bright blush flooded her cheeks as she averted her eyes once again, more than a little overwhelmed. He chuckled lightly and brought his lips back down to hers for a kiss. They got lost in the dizzying sensation of lips against lips and the roughness of his beard against her smooth skin for a while until a wet nose prodded at Sansa’s knee. She looked down and shook her head at Ghost and Lady who were sitting as close as possible to them with silly doggy smiles on their faces as if they approved of this development in their owners’ lives.


End file.
